Did not reached my og

[Pdaigle]

Did a ipa and was suppose to hit 1.062 and only got 1.051 but my sample had alot of trub so im wondering if that screwd my og. The first time i tried i got like 1.048 and the second time 1.051. So could this cause my og to be lower?

 

[aimlessbum]

Just give it time to settle and skim off the top. This has happened to me a ton. The hops in suspension keep the hydrometer from working well, in my opinion. No science behind it, though.

 

[doug293cz]

Anything that will settle out with time can only raise the SG while in suspension, as things that settle out have to have higher SG than the fluid that they settle in.

Brew on

 

[tezcatlipoca]

I will sometimes have problems hitting the OG, but I'm fairly sure I have the same problem each time. I inconsistently draw off a different volume from the mash tun, which changes my OG. Too much and I get a lower OG. Too little and it can be significantly higher.

The trub isn't causing a lower OG. It would make it read higher. How much beer did you end up with? What do you mash with? Mash temp? Was the target 1.062 assuming a 75% efficiency?

 

[Pdaigle]

I will sometimes have problems hitting the OG, but I'm fairly sure I have the same problem each time. I inconsistently draw off a different volume from the mash tun, which changes my OG. Too much and I get a lower OG. Too little and it can be significantly higher.

The trub isn't causing a lower OG. It would make it read higher. How much beer did you end up with? What do you mash with? Mash temp? Was the target 1.062 assuming a 75% efficiency?

ended with 6 gal
mash temp 148F
73% Efficiency

 

[tezcatlipoca]

Yeah, 6 gallons is a little too high if it was calculated with beersmith. I want to say the default is 5.25 and I usually do mine at 5.5 gallons, but that requires changing some settings and it changes the recipe a little.

Still, you probably have a slightly diluted beer, but an extra 3/4 gallon of it.

I taped a mark on the side of my boil kettle to make sure I draw off only 6 gallons. With my evaporation rate that gives me close to 5.5 gallons in fermenter, but it can be difficult to hit that mark at times. Usually, I go to close the valve on my sparge tank and turn off that pump and by time I get back it went slightly over the tape.

Someone should chime in if they agree about this. Was the original recipe for 5 gallons or 5.5? Beersmith usually says but handwritten notes may not...

 

[Pdaigle]

Yeah, 6 gallons is a little too high if it was calculated with beersmith. I want to say the default is 5.25 and I usually do mine at 5.5 gallons, but that requires changing some settings and it changes the recipe a little.

Still, you probably have a slightly diluted beer, but an extra 3/4 gallon of it.

I taped a mark on the side of my boil kettle to make sure I draw off only 6 gallons. With my evaporation rate that gives me close to 5.5 gallons in fermenter, but it can be difficult to hit that mark at times. Usually, I go to close the valve on my sparge tank and turn off that pump and by time I get back it went slightly over the tape.

Someone should chime in if they agree about this. Was the original recipe for 5
gallons or 5.5? Beersmith usually says but handwritten notes may not...

This is a new recipe I created and I dont think the batch size has anything to do with this. Wether I totally missed my og or the trub has something to do with it

 

[doug293cz]

This is a new recipe I created and I dont think the batch size has anything to do with this. Wether I totally missed my og or the trub has something to do with it

The recipe batch size vs. your actual batch size is one of the things that will affect whether or not you hit your target OG. If the recipe is planned to yield 5.5 gal to the fermenter, and you actually yield 6 gallons, because you used too much water or your boil off was low, then your OG will be low. If your target was 1.062, then with the extra volume you would only have 5.5 * 62 / 6.0 = 56.8 -> 1.057. If your efficiency is lower than planned, then that would lower your OG even more.

Excessive trub losses would would lower your actual batch size, but they should not affect the OG (unless you add make up water), as the sugar concentration of the wort that gets lost with the trub is the same as the sugar concentration that makes it into the fermenter.

Brew on

 

[tezcatlipoca]

I don't think he was worried about trub losses, just that his OG sample had lots of trub in it. I think that'll only making the reading higher, which is not his problem. I do believe your final volume has a lot to do with your OG.

73% efficiency can be typical for some equipment btw. I used to get 75%, but then I changed out some equipment and I get close to 85%. You don't get an award for getting a higher efficiency because grain is cheap and you can always throw in a couple more pounds of it. However, you do want to know your efficiency that way you can plan the recipe according. So, if you planned to convert someone recipe from their 85% efficiency to your 75%, you'll have to add some more grain(I painstakingly converted a buddy's recipe to my old equipment once). Anyways, the key is to have you mash efficiency be consistent so you can plan with it. I tell you all this in case you were aiming for a higher efficiency, but I wanna say the default for beersmith is 75%, so you'll probably fine there.

 

[Pdaigle]

After rethinking all of this and I might of missed 2lbs of base malt in which would of drop my og by 0.010 so this is my on solution I can think of right now. Thx for the help guys

 

[tezcatlipoca]

Doh! Leaving out two pounds of malt grains would definitely do it.